About

Heritage Action’s Mission

Heritage Action turns conservative ideas into reality on Capitol Hill. We do that by holding lawmakers accountable to their promises to advance the conservative principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

We work directly with federal lawmakers inside and outside of Washington—the only way to bring about the conservative policies that hold true to our Founding Fathers’ ideals. Heritage Action exists to ensure that these ideals are not only maintained but flourish, both now and for future generations.

Powerful Inside-the Beltway Influence

Our Capitol Hill lobbying team works directly with lawmakers and their staffs to implement conservative solutions—solutions drawn from our partners at The Heritage Foundation. While other lobbyists push for a special interest agenda, we lobby on behalf of American principles. And our groundbreaking legislative Scorecard grades lawmakers on the votes and bill co-sponsorships that are most critical to advancing the conservative mission over both the short and long term.

Influential Grassroots Network

Meanwhile, our team of grassroots coordinators organizes an elite group of almost 20,000 Sentinel activists who are on the front lines of the conservative fight. Leveraging personal relationships with lawmakers and tools like letters to the editors and calls to Congress, they apply essential political pressure that holds their representatives accountable to our nation’s founding principles.

Since our founding in 2010, Heritage Action has both thwarted the liberal agenda and advanced conservative principles. We have kept up momentum for greater healthcare choices even when the Establishment has declared it not worth fighting. We have led the fight for both spending cuts and tax cuts, and our bold stance against confirming any of Barack Obama’s judicial nominees in 2016 paved the way for Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

Heritage Action provides guidance to Capitol Hill and the conservative movement on important House and Senate votes. These “key votes” identify conservative priorities and provide accountability for lawmakers on principled votes.

Heritage Action is supported financially by tens of thousands of committed conservatives from across America who help us maintain our independence from the Washington Swamp. We accept no government funds, and we are not affiliated with any political party.

Frequently Asked Questions

Heritage Action's team consists of a Capitol Hill office based in D.C. and a team of regional field staff that work directly with activists in their own backyard. You can meet the full team here.

You can sign up for GR updates here. You can email info@HeritageAction.com, and we'll make sure your email gets to the right person.

We would love for you to join our growing network of activists. You can sign up to get more information about the Sentinel program here.

Heritage Action takes the conservative policy visions outlined by our sister organization, The Heritage Foundation, and works to make them a reality. To do so, Heritage Action employs a two-pronged “inside-outside” strategy.

Inside Washington, D.C., we deploy our well-respected government relations team to directly meet with and influence lawmakers.

Outside Washington, D.C., our regional field staff works directly with leading grassroots activists to build support for conservative policies in a lawmaker’s backyard.

Both teams work together to hold members of Congress accountable to their constituents, advance conservative policy, and block big-government policy.

No. The Heritage Foundation is Heritage Action’s sister organization. Both Heritage Action and The Heritage Foundation care deeply about promoting conservative values to ensure a strong future for America. The Heritage Foundation founded Heritage Action with the goal of creating an organization that can take meaningful action to hold members of Congress accountable. Heritage Action applies direct pressure to lawmakers so Washington is compelled to adopt conservative policies, and coordinates a grassroots network of conservative citizens to apply additional pressure from constituents.

Yes! The thoughtful voice of a constituent is incredibly powerful. Many people on our team are former hill staffers and personally know that constituent concerns are very important. Our goal is to provide an echo chamber of accountability around a Member of Congress and, as such, we want Members to hear from conservatives through mail, calls, and social media. To maximize impact, activists should customize activism efforts and include information that is relevant to you and your local community--this makes your activism efforts even more effective.

A lot. Liberal members of Congress still need accountability. It’s important to start local by doing things like building a network of activists, compiling a strong email list, and creating Google alerts for your Members. Be ready to get involved in neighboring districts, and stay alert to issues where some liberals may side with conservatives. Additionally, many times our Activist Toolkits include “target members” of people who are on the fence or need extra attention from Sentinels on a certain issue. Feel free to “adopt” one of these congressmen, contact their offices, and hold them accountable.

Visit our online Scorecard page to view your member of Congress, see how they rank, and find information to contact them.

Unlike the Heritage Foundation, Heritage Action is not tax deductible. This is due to our different legal status--we are a 501 (c) (4) organization, rather than the Foundation, which is a 501 (c) (3) organization. This different classification is what allows us to back specific legislation (which is integral to our mission of making the research of the Foundation into actual conservative policy). However, like the Foundation, we greatly appreciate and depend upon our supporters.

Please contact our D.C. office at 202-548-5280 between 9am and 5pm Eastern time. If you call after business hours please leave us a message, and we will return your call the next business day. You can also send us an email at info@heritageaction.com, and we will be happy to answer your question!

We hire paid interns for the spring, summer and winter semesters through our sister organization, The Heritage Foundation and their Young Leaders Program. Interns at Heritage Action will have the opportunity to engage with the lobbying and grassroots operations of the organization. Interns conduct legislative research, develop communication strategies, and manage requests from Heritage Action’s thousands of activists. This internship is great for those who seek to work on Capitol Hill, become conservative activists, or work in electoral politics.

The Young Leaders Program is a 12-15 week internship program that provides a full educational program while at The Heritage Foundation. Working up to 37.5 hours, an intern has the opportunity to learn from experts in a variety of fields by way of policy briefings, in-house mentorship, accountability of work, and a First Principles Series. If you have any questions specific to Heritage Action’s internship process email gabrielle.schirmer@heritageaction.com. For more information about the Young Leaders Program please click here.